don't drink the water in benton arbor

[fabulouslyghetto]

take a wild guess how the state is (not) handling it.

For years, residents of this small, struggling city in south-west Michigan had been having similar problems. When Carmela Patton turned on her sink to make coffee, the water came out brown. When Emma Kinnard ran hers, it came out the color of tea and “sizzling like Alka-Seltzer”. Rasta Smith said his water looked normal, but had a “horrible” taste and a smell that reminded him of rotting sewage. “It’s bad, man,” he said. “It’s real bad.”

Finally, in 2018, they found out what was going on: tap water samples tested that summer revealed lead levels of 22 parts per billion – well over the federal lead action level of 15 parts per billion and higher, even, than the 20 parts per billion nearby Flint averaged at the height of the crisis that made that city a national symbol of environmental injustice.

maybe we could ask one of these billionaires to foot the bill? instead of buying 3rd and 4th houses???

 

[Peloso]

maybe we could ask one of these billionaires to foot the bill? instead of buying 3rd and 4th houses???

Who the hell are you to tell billionaires how to spend our money?

 

[fabulouslyghetto]

Who the hell are you to tell billionaires how to spend our money?

somewhat happy ending, the water is almost drinkable, a year later

 

[Peloso]

somewhat happy ending, the water is almost drinkable, a year later

"Almost" as in "The bus almost missed him"?

 

[Alistair]

Well, it Is Michigan

 

[fabulouslyghetto]

Well, it Is Michigan

Michigan is the Mississippi of the north.

 

[Latimer]

Regarding the infamous problems with the Flint, Michigan water supply, responsibility rests with the city council which, without proper investigation and deliberation, decided to sever its link to the Detroit water system and switch to another source and then, when problems arose with the new supply, ignored them.

The problem is not with billionaires but with incompetent, derelict politicians.

The Flint water crisis begins

On April 25, 2014 officials from Flint, Michigan switched the city’s water supply to the Flint River as a cost-cutting measure for the struggling city. In doing

www.history.com

The city council was a joke, and still is. Actually, joke is putting it mildly. The water crisis has irrevocably damaged lives. And it wasn't white people who were incompetent and untrustworthy and turned their backs on the problem, it was black people. In case you haven't noticed, black politicians control Flint. They are more concerned with distributing public funds to their friends and endlessly charging racism than governing responsibly.

Commentary: Good governing betrayed by “knuckleheads”– the public urgently needs better

By Tom Travis This is not the usual city council article. No “news” here, just observations and commentary from a local city government beat community journalist. As editor, and suppor…

www.eastvillagemagazine.org

Sorry to say, the Los Angeles City Council is hardly any better.

 

[opinterph]

Regarding the infamous problems with the Flint, Michigan water supply

The discussion in this thread is more about Benton Harbor.

Unlike the notorious case of the Flint water crisis—where a criminal switch to untreated water corroded pipes—the catastrophes in Benton Harbor, Hamtramck and elsewhere are the advanced expressions of deteriorating infrastructure on its last legs.

Benton Harbor, Michigan water crisis: More of the same toxic politics (World Socialists Web Site; December 2021)

---

Regarding Flint:

the city council which, without proper investigation and deliberation, decided to sever its link to the Detroit water system

Are you sure?

City officials did not drive the decision to take water from the Flint River. There was never such a vote by the city council, which really didn't have the power to make such a decision anyway, because the city was under the control of a state-appointed emergency manager.

Michigan Truth Squad: Who approved switch to Flint River? State's answers draw fouls (MLive; January 2016)